RWC 2027 Draw - ROU reaction (Gérard, Mahu) - RWC 2027 Draw
David Gérard, head coach
Reaction to the draw:
"My first feeling was ‘oh my God, we have the world champions’. I now feel very proud, though, for both the players and the country. We now have to focus on being competitive in two years, because two years is tomorrow. We know in our pool we have three teams that don’t have the same problems as us and have a lot of world-class players. My focus now is to build a team who have the capacity to compete with Georgia, Italy and South Africa. It’s still rugby, anything can happen, and sometimes dreams happen."
On the expansion of the tournament and how Romania will build towards 2027:
"We know our weaknesses, but we should focus on our strengths. I know this World Cup has more teams but we now play fewer games (in the group) than in 2023. So every mistake, every error made during the World Cup will be tougher for us. I have to focus on the players individually and see if they can take the sacrifices needed from them and join us in this fight.
Three main areas Romania can improve on:
"The fitness, nutrition and our mentality."
On playing back-to-back world champions, South Africa:
"If we prepare to play South Africa as if it’s a dream to play the world champions, it will be a nightmare. We need to prepare every game to be competitive. We have to stop seeing the fact that we are playing them as an achievement. No, an achievement is if you compete with them, because it’s still rugby. I’m not here as a tourist; I'm not going to Australia with people who just want to be there and enjoy being on TV. I want Romanian players who have the knowledge to sacrifice themselves for three games. If people think Romania will just focus on Georgia and Italy, I think that’s disrespectful to the sport. If we respect rugby, we have to be competitive.
Andrei Mahu, captain
On what David Gerard has brought to the team since taking over in 2024:
"He’s changed the mindset because we still have that problem, like when we played Georgia this year. When we played Georgia this year, we were a weakened team; we were missing 10 key players, so there was no surprise with that result. I think the potential for our team is huge, so if we play our best, we can be very competitive against them. Their biggest strength is their scrum, but at full strength for us, there isn’t a big difference (in the scrum).
On playing Italy compared to Georgia:
"They have a huge scrum, but they play more quickly than Georgia. They focus on the speed of the game, which is not our strongest point, so Georgia is closer to us in terms of their style of play."
On potentially playing in his first World Cup:
"I’ve had some experience with World Cups (missing out previously), hopefully this time will be good. I’m not a young player, so I’m hoping to be very fit. These games we have are different gravy, so I need to be in good shape physically and mentally. It would be a huge personal achievement for me. The main goal for us, though, outside of selection is winning at least one game."
